Quote Sheet: Fire vs. PHI

Chicago Fire Head Coach Frank Klopas
Thoughts on the game tonight
“Obviously a great win for us in a difficult place to play. I knew they were a team coming in with a good mentality. We knew they were going to fight at home and come out with a lot of energy and press throughout the game, and we expected that, and that they put a lot of hard pressure on us. At times they play very direct. So we wanted to make sure that we were ready from the start, but then also I felt that one of the things we could exploit was the space behind them, as they push the gaps they leave behind. We didn’t start really well. I felt the game the first 10 or 15 minutes or so we looked a little bit lethargic and then obviously we fell asleep on that goal. We scored at the right time in the half, and then obviously we had good opportunities in the second half to push the game to kinda put it away. They kept pushing to the end, and I give them a lot of credit, but it was a great win for our team.”

Midfielder Pavel Pardo
Thoughts on the game
“It was very important for us (to win) in order to stay near the top of standings. It really was fundamental for us to get the victory today.”

On defeating a team with a home win-streak
“We knew it was going to be difficult; that they were a team that was going to pressure us. They are a team that controls the possession of the ball well. Today, the team, especially after the first 20 or 30 minutes, started to play better.”

On what lies ahead for the Chicago Fire
“We need to keep winning; if we hope to be in the playoffs, we need to be near the group leaders in the Eastern Conference. We need to stay near the top; those who slip up in trying to climb the standings, will most likely fall behind.”

Philadelphia Union QuotesCoach John Hackworth

Opening Statement

“I must start by saying it’s extremely disappointing match for the Philadelphia Union. It’s not the kind of performance that’s acceptable to us in any way shape or form that being said, you know, I think I would take some responsibility for that result as well. Don’t think our team was ready for Chicago in the first half, and clearly that’s my responsibility.”

Line up decisions

“Yeah, we’re just missing a couple key guys, for sure, but that is an opportunity for younger guys and guys that haven’t been playing to step up, and seize their opportunity. Actually, I thought those guys in particular did pretty well. So not upset with those performances at all.”

Preparation

“Look, we didn’t come out with the same energy we’ve shown, in past games. We didn’t move the ball. We didn’t dictate the rhythm of the game, early, and despite that we went up goal, and then to give up two goals that late in the half is just can’t happen.”
Giving up goals late in the half

“The concern is that we’ve given up two restart goals late in the half, and that’s man marking, you know. Some of its where you’re turning balls over and things like that that’s managing the match, but you’re going to have those, and for us to be susceptible like that is not good enough.”

Reputation for not dealing with set pieces well

“As far as coaching against us I would look for it as an opportunity, but I don’t think we’ve been bad at that. I mean you work on that in practice. You work on it constantly. You work on it pre-game. Get your match ups right and on that particular play you just got to stay with your man, you know. A guy gets screened and loses a man; we gotta make a play on that, and that’s kinda the theme of this game, we didn’t make plays when we had to make plays. We had plenty of chances in that second half to put ourselves back in the game. Came out really good in the second half, created a number of chances right away, and we gotta execute it. If we don’t do that, and the number of times we were down in their half and didn’t get any opportunity off that’s unacceptable, you know. We have nights like that where they don’t go your way, and it doesn’t seem like you can break down your opponent, and that’s our fault.”

Forward – Chandler Hoffman

On the goal that was close to being credited to him –

“Freddy played it in and I thought I got a little flick on it. It definitely touched my head and I was going to celebrate like it was mine but it ended up being an own goal. It is unfortunate we couldn’t hold onto the lead.”

On first start since getting back from injury –

“It felt good coming back from injury and it was great to see that (coach) Hack had faith in me. I had a great week of training and really thought I scored that first goal but definitely got to just keep moving forward from this.”

On how they rebound from a loss like the one tonight –

“It’s tough you know, you look at these last two weeks and it could have been a six point swing up in Montreal and then here. It was definitely results we needed to get and it just puts us in a tougher spot moving forward, there can be no more slip ups.”

Goalie – Zac MacMath

On what it takes to reign the defense in –

“It’s tough you know, obviously we were chasing the game that we wanted three points. We got spread out and they had a lot of opportunities where guys were wide open with the ball in. Unfortunately that’s how the game goes and we had to chase the game.”

On the second goal –

“I thought I had a great read on it. It was kind of like the Sene goal from a couple weeks ago. I thought it was going one way and it started going the other way and unfortunately I couldn’t get it out.”

On how they refocus with the team –

“I think we just keep going, cause we didn’t play bad tonight. We had a couple bad moments, if we let up two goals in the last five minutes of the first half and we can’t let that happen but otherwise I felt we played well in the first half with opportunities and we just have to do better in the critical moments.”

Midfielder Brian Carroll

On Chicago’s defense –

“Ever since we got the goal, I felt that they sort of had the better of the game and for whatever reason, we were not able to respond to that and we kept pushing and pushing and it left us vulnerable in the back end and they did capitalize on one of those, but really, we just needed to find a way to win this game tonight and we weren’t able to do that. Part of that is us and part of that is them playing a good overall game.”

On giving up losses –

“It’s disappointing, we have to continue to play. You never know what’s going to happen going forward, so all we can do is focus on ourselves and focus as a team and work on getting results and hopefully we get some help and you never know what can happen.”

On what keeps the team confident with games in hand –

“It pops in your head but we have to take advantage of these games. Any game at home right now, we need to do a better job at getting the three points. We started off OK, we go the goal up 1-0 but they kind of had the better of the match going forward from that point on and we needed to find a better way to respond or keep that lead. We weren’t able to do that but we can’t hang our heads, we can’t do anything drastic right now. We need to get some rest tonight, look at video tomorrow and try and fix it going forward and be competitive and hard on other teams for the rest of the year and just see what happens from there.”

Forward Lionard Pajoy

On the current situation of the Union
“The situation for us was a bit difficult already, even before today’s game. Our goal was to keep winning, especially here at home, in order to keep our playoff hopes alive. We lost today, but not just that, we lost playing poorly. It’s a bit unnerving, but like always, we keep our heads high; we’ll keep on working hard, and we’ll give it our all.”

On Chicago’s reversal of the scoreboard
“The team failed to find rhythm since the first half. We gave them plenty of space, and Chicago knew how to take advantage of that. They were able to exploit our mistakes, and like always in soccer, those who mess up end up paying for their mistakes. Today Philadelphia made many mistakes, and that is why we lost.”

On the team’s desperation in trying to come back
“The team did not seem to have many ideas today; everyone wanted to run with the ball and take it forward. But in soccer, you need other options, which we did not create today, hence the result.”

Forward Josue Martinez

On the situation for the Union
“I think it’s very important to all of us that we win here; we’re upset about the loss tonight. With every week that goes by, there are less and less games to be played. We have to put this game behind us, there are plenty of games to be played. We need to stay focused, and never give up.”

What lies ahead for the Union
“We cannot give up – we have to continue with the mentality that we will win. The joy that we feel after a victory must also be with us in tough times like these. The team will continue to work hard, in order to overcome.”

On the lack of a second goal, despite playing various forwards
“Sometimes, it comes down to luck, which we didn’t have today. Chicago took full advantage of their opportunities. As for us, we need to look ahead. You hope that by having so many attacking players that a second goal would come, but it’s unfortunate that it did not. Like I said though, we need to keep our heads up and keep working hard.”